Everything came together for the Dodgers on Thursday afternoon. Carlos Monasterios was solid, the bullpen didn't give up a hit, and Casey Blake hit a two-run homer. Add it all up and it meant a win for the Dodgers over the Brewers, 7-1. The Dodgers swept the three-game series.
Scott Podsednik singled leading off the game to get things going. Ryan Theriot lifted a long fly ball to center that bounced over the wall for a ground rule double, which actually hurt since Podsednik would have easily scored if it didn't. Only Matt Kemp's groundout could score a run as the Dodgers went up 1-0.
The only thing that went right for the Brewers all day came in the fourth. With one out, Prince Fielder hit a solo shot to right to tie the game at 1-1. After that hit, it was all Dodgers. In fact, they didn't give up a hit the rest of the way.
The Dodgers got the lead back and for good in the fifth. Brad Ausmus had a great day with three hits, and this was one of them with a single. Monasterios put a sacrifice bunt down to get Ausmus to third, and Podsednik's RBI single made it 2-1.
Joe Torre had to play matchup again to get out of the fifth unscathed. Monasterios walked Yovanni Gallardo with one out, then beaned both Rickie Weeks and Corey Hart to load the bases.
Just like the previous night, Ronald Belisario came on and got Ryan Braun, this time with a strikeout. George Sherrill faced Fielder and again got a good result with a grounder for a fielder's choice.
The sixth inning was interesting. Andre Ethier struck out looking and jawed about it. After Kemp struck out swinging, home plate umpire Adrian Johnson tossed Ethier for continuing to argue. With that out of the way, James Loney walked. Blake stepped up and hit a two-run shot to make it 4-1. It was his 13th homer of the season.
Kenley Jansen relieved Sherrill in the sixth and got through the Brewers in order. He then got to hit in the seventh and somehow drew a walk. He is a former catcher, so it's not like he's clueless on how to hit. Podsednik singled to chase Gallardo from the game.
Todd Coffey came in, and Theriot greeted him with a soft single to center to score Jansen. The throw home by Chris Dickerson sailed over everybody, so both runners advanced. Reed Johnson, who replaced Ethier, hit an RBI single to make it 6-1. Another run came across on a wild pitch.
Jansen stayed on and stuck out the side in the seventh. Octavio Dotel did the same in the eighth, and Jeff Weaver retired the side in order to finish the game.
It was another impressive performance by the bullpen, who came into this series looking like a mess. The combination of Belisario, Sherrill, Jansen, Dotel, and Weaver pitched the final 4 2/3 innings for no hits, no runs, one walk, and eight strikeouts. The Brewers stink, but they still have some big power, making the bullpen's performance very impressive.
Monasterios did what he needed to do, which was keep the Dodgers in the game. In fact, he left on the winning side. He ended up with 4 1/3 innings, two hits, one run, one walk, and three strikeouts. He also beaned two guys, but thankfully it didn't hurt. Well, it did hurt, but only those who got beaned. Not the Dodgers. You get all of that? I'm not sure I did.
With Manny Ramirez getting the day off (day game after a night game = not gonna happen), it was good to see the offense come through anyway. They went 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Podsednik added a two-out RBI, and Blake had two.
The Brewers are a long way from the team that went to the playoffs in 2008. They're 14 games in back of the Reds in the NL Central, and are five games under .500 at home. So, beating them three straight is nothing to get too excited about. It's nice, but not worth getting carried away about.
What the Dodgers should be happy about is that they look like an actual team again. They've been burned in so many different ways in the second half (bad baserunning, horrible bullpen, no clutch hitting), it was good to see them finally get things right.
Will it last? That's always tough to tell. Manny is still pretty much as good as gone, so you can't factor his bat into the equation. Who knows, maybe he'll stay, but I'm guessing he won't. If they can still get guys to drive in runs with runners on and get more solid bullpen work, they should be fine. I just don't want to see the boring team we've had to suffer through watching from before this series.
Next up is three in Colorado, which are always wild games. The Dodgers took two of three from them at home last week. The Rockies have won four straight, including a big three-game sweep of the Braves. If the Dodgers can take a couple in this series, then maybe they have turned a corner. Clayton Kershaw and Ubaldo Jimenez will go in the first game.
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